Issue 69: Latest Open University News

Once again this past week we’ve been busy scanning across the internet to find the latest information and Open University courses. This week we look at further strike action over OU cuts, scrapping student maintenance allowance and 45 years of the OU. So if there’s a free course or bit of news on the agenda then hopefully we will pick it up and stick it on the next Open University news.

The Milton Keynes based Open University is facing the threat of fresh strikes by staff in a long running dispute over jobs. The University and College Union warned of walkouts on Tuesday if managers do not make a “fair offer” by tonight for staff affected by office closures. The union said it wants a guarantee of fair transitional arrangements for around 500 staff in seven regional offices affected by a “massive” restructure.

The OU at 45. What can we learn from Britain’s distance education pioneer. Forty-five years ago, when Britain’s Open University (OU) began broadcasting its first lectures over BBC television and radio, there were many reasons to discount its importance. For one thing, the concept of providing higher education at a distance wasn’t new: the first correspondence course…

A vote to scrap student maintenance grants for those starting in September 2016 and beyond was controversially passed in Westminster last week. “At Havering College we have our own higher education provision and we continue to develop new degrees in partnership with the Open University,” she said. “This provision allows students to achieve a degree but study locally and live at home.”